harvest
Busiest month of the year
A day in Mari, a small village near Lahore, to witness waadi of the wheat crop that engages majority of the workforce, even those in cities &
By Sarah Sikandar

Mushtaq starts his day at four in the morning. Eats a breakfast of chappati with yogurt and fried egg and leaves for the field where he would be spending the rest of his day. His wife, in the meanwhile, milks the cows. She then feeds the cows fodder and their two pet dogs last night's chappatis and milk. She will join him in the field in the afternoon. They live on the wheat and rice fields of Mari, a small village about fifty kilometres from Lahore.

Trip to the animal kingdom
South Africa -- an out of the box option for a short vacation
By Zia-ur-Rehman
South Africa is not a destination which would strike as the first choice for vacation. People find Far East (Thailand, Malaysia) more economical while the more sophisticated opt for Europe and the United States. Little wonder, I found no help from the travel agents to plan my itinerary to South Africa.

 

Busiest month of the year

 
A day in Mari, a small village near Lahore, to witness waadi of the wheat crop that engages majority of the workforce, even those in cities &

By Sarah Sikandar

Mushtaq starts his day at four in the morning. Eats a breakfast of chappati with yogurt and fried egg and leaves for the field where he would be spending the rest of his day. His wife, in the meanwhile, milks the cows. She then feeds the cows fodder and their two pet dogs last night's chappatis and milk. She will join him in the field in the afternoon. They live on the wheat and rice fields of Mari, a small village about fifty kilometres from Lahore.

I am not sure what Eliot, who thought "April is the cruellest month", would have to say about the likes of Mushtaq, for whom this certainly is the busiest time of the year. The waadi (cutting of crops) season has started. It is time to reap the fruit of his year-long labour. Not that he has been doing nothing for the rest of the year which was spent in looking after the crop, trying to save it from pests, nourishing it with fertiliser and praying for the right weather.

Why is Mushtaq important to me? Because he works twelve hours a day under scorching sun to bring chapatti onto my table. If it wasn't for him, my family would either be working on these fields or these lands would have been sold. I feel close to him for another reason. His daily grind reminds me of my forefathers and the toil that they endured to till the land that feeds me. His children remind me of the streets and dirty alleys where my grandfather grew up playing gulli danda and rolling old tyres with a stick. The last time I went there was on his death.

At this time of the year, the rural landscape of Punjab is dominated by the golden-brown hue of the ripe wheat ready to be cut. This sharp contrast of green and golden landscape is dotted with oblivious toiling mazaras, occasionally raising their heads to acknowledge your presence. Nothing in the world seems to be on their mind except the long leaves in front of them and their decreasing number. No noise can attract their attention and the mechanical movement of their hands, cutting the crop with one hand and holding the bunch in the other, is unhindered by heat or fatigue.

The image is familiar for I have read about this mazara in my primary school syllabus. Now I can see that what the textbooks exclude is the woman working in the fields: As oblivious as their male counterparts, with an equally speedy movement of arms, the sunburnt faces of these women make them all look alike -- the "working women" of Punjab.

There are the lucky ones. They use the harvester. Out of the field in and around the village, I could see only two or three fields with harvesters. After the hard labour I had just witnessed, it seemed the harvester was, literally, doing the days' work in hours. It was doing three things simultaneously -- cutting wheat, sifting grain from shaft and emitting grain from one of its outlets which was later carried away by a trailer. I am told the grain will be stored in sacks. Only the well-off landlords can afford to import expensive machinery like harvesters. The rest are still working with their bare hands.

The sowing of the seed is a family activity involving every one, from the father to the youngest child. With the arrival of March, it is understood that men will be busier than usual. In some villages, the local melas are arranged to celebrate the fruit of their labour. That is a tradition that will hopefully survive as long as the fields do.

Farmers like Mushtaq have been working on the fields of landlords for generations. He is not sure if his sons will be doing the same or are more self-sufficient than himself. The future of these fields is as uncertain as the young men who now prefer white-collared jobs and want to live in the cities.

 

 

Trip to the animal kingdom

South Africa -- an out of the box option for a short vacation

By Zia-ur-Rehman

South Africa is not a destination which would strike as the first choice for vacation. People find Far East (Thailand, Malaysia) more economical while the more sophisticated opt for Europe and the United States. Little wonder, I found no help from the travel agents to plan my itinerary to South Africa.

The alternative was to either get the trip planned through international travel agents and pay an exorbitant sum of money, or do it by searching the internet and planning the trip piece by piece.

So I sat down every day on the internet, planning my itinerary, taking clues from the web-forums and travelogues posted on the websites. After a few reads, I had short-listed two broad destinations. First, the African safari areas (including the renowned Kruger National Park for the Jungle Safari experience) and second, the close-by towns -- Nelspruit and Hazyview.

Keeping in mind the budget, I started my search for the hotels. A 40-odd day search on the internet finally yielded results, when I finally managed to book hotel/guest houses in the two broad areas I had highlighted earlier. I also managed to hire the car from Avis; which I was to pick from Johannesburg on my arrival. After purchasing the airline ticket (Karachi to Johannesburg) from the travel-agent, I applied for the visa for myself and wife. The South African consulate office in Islamabad took a little longer than the stated time, and I managed to get the visa in 25 days.

We reached Johannesburg in the early hours of the day, got immigration clearance and rental car and headed towards the small town of Nelspruit, 350km from Johannesburg. Nelspruit has since long served as a resting point for people travelling from Johannesburg to the African Safari area.

The following day we had a short trip planned for the Sudwala Caves, which were renowned to be the oldest known caves in the world. After a thoroughly enjoyable guided tour of the caves, we set out for our next planned stop-point: Hazyview.

Hazyview is a small picturesque town with quite a few tourist destinations, such as God's window, Potholes, Lisbon falls and Blyde Canyon. It also offers an exciting white water rafting experience in which one gets to experience being alongside young crocs.

From Hazyview, we headed towards the safari area for the African Safari. I found out only after reaching South Africa was that one has two Safari options to choose from. In South Africa, one can either go for the much personalised experience of a private game reserve or enjoy the relatively modestly priced public national parks.

With an area of 19 thousand square km, Kruger National Park (KNP) is the largest public national park. It park is dotted with 26 camps -- designed cordoned off areas -- that house motel-like spaces. The main problem with KNP and other such public nation parks is that there really aren't any guided tours and one is on his own in the park. Hence spotting an animal comes down to being a matter of luck. Also, due to strict regulations you cannot leave for the jungle before sunrise, you cannot get off the tarred road, you cannot get out of the car and cannot cross the 40km/hr speed limit.

On the other hand, the private game reserves which comprise private land holdings provide a more exquisite safari experience. These private reserves offer a much more personalised service, with two game viewing drives every day. At these private reserves the 'Drive' leader accompanied by a park ranger act as guides for the tour. The ranger tracks the animals with the help of various clues, including animal droppings, radio communications with other rangers for animal sightings, foot-prints etc. The downside is that the private game reserves cost almost five times more than KNP.

At the Thorny Bush Private Game Reserve, the day started at five in the morning, before sunrise. At that time you board the Reserves' vehicles along with other tourists (total of nine people in the car). The driver along with the Ranger then drives you around; tracking down various animals on the way. The key to a successful African safari is getting to see the big 5; Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo, Rhinoceros. At these private game reserves they make sure that you get to see each of these five.

After roaming on the dirt roads for a couple of hours (starting at five, as mentioned earlier) and getting to see various animals you stop for a cup of morning tea with home-made biscuits. After the 15-minute break, you continue your safari for another 2 hours before reaching the lodge at around 9 for a hearty breakfast.

After breakfast in the afternoon, you are on your own to relax. A dip in the pool, catching up on the sleep, reading a book in the peaceful environment or just lazing around are just a few options. Around five in the evening, after the afternoon hi-tea, you once again board the Reserve's vehicle and go for the evening Safari drive. The evening drive is about three hour long and is followed by dinner.

During three days, we got to see all the large animals, lions (male & female), cheetah, leopard ( which happen to be the most difficult animals to spot as they stay up in the trees) buffalo, impala, giraffe, elephants, vultures, kudu, waterbuck, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, jackal etc. Though coming in such proximity with all these animals was intimidating but not dangerous. The animals are pretty comfortable and remain calm, as long as you preserve the basic etiquettes, stay within the jeep, don't feed the animals and stay calm in the car.

For all those people looking for a short vacation that offers something different from the homogenised developed western world, South Africa really does offer an excellent and exciting option.

 


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